Rabble Without A Cause
Wednesday January 23rd, 2013 with Bernard Stepien
Anthony Braxton and John McDonough

Anthony Braxton may be the most prolific Jazz musicians when it comes to releasing records or CDs and of course composing. Trumpeter John McDonough even says that Braxton has put 5 albums while you were reading this. Although I am collecting his albums since the mid `70s, I may have only a tiny fraction of his works. Braxton has released 300 albums so far. Thus, every time I see one of his CDs in a used CD shop, I irresistibly buy it. I know I will never be disappointed. Back towards the end of the `60s, Braxton went to Paris along with his Chicago peers of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The Art Ensemble was an instant hit, but Braxton`s music was considered too academic. Well, it is precisely this academic aspect of his music that paved the way of his career and also helped Jazz in general to follow that same path. Thanks to that academic transmutation of Jazz, we now have thousands of Jazz musicians that play like John Coltrane or Art Tatum and even beyond. It also helped move Jazz into the serious music section of CBC`s music library. Of course it always takes a while to get recognized. For Braxton that came in 1994 when he received a MacArthur award which financed his Tri-centric Foundation, its purpose being to facilitate the performance of his work and produce even more. John McDonough is an interesting case too. He admits that at the beginning of his musical life, he could not stand the avant-garde and especially not Anthony Braxton. But here he is in 2006 doing a duo with Anthony Braxton. Conclusion, it is never too late for learning Free Jazz. Tonight we will survey this duo. As the rule goes please be warned that listening to this music may cause a Massive Breath Attack…